


Birth of the Newest Stark-Rhodes

by DarkWitchOfErie



Series: Iron Family [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, Morgan Stark's birth, Multi, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not Compliant with anything after Civil War either really, Parkner isn't much of a relationship in this one but it's all part of the same universe so, Pepper gives birth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:54:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21983248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkWitchOfErie/pseuds/DarkWitchOfErie
Summary: Pepper goes into labor and her husbands are kinda useless in the beginning.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: Iron Family [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556011
Comments: 1
Kudos: 93





	Birth of the Newest Stark-Rhodes

The morning of July 5th started the same as any normal morning ever did for the Avengers that were living in the Tower. Steve, Bucky, and Sam, who’d all gotten up at dawn to go for a morning run, were busily making pancakes, bacon, and eggs for the people in the Tower. Natasha glared at anyone who tried to speak to her before she had her coffee. Harley insisted on being a chipper, morning person and was already chatting to Steve, Bucky, and Sam. But was wise enough to know that Nat would throw something (sometimes a coffee cup, sometimes a butter knife) in his general direction if he attempted to socialize with her. Rhodey, already dressed for work, joined them with an attitude toward mornings that was much easier to bear than Harley’s. Tony and Peter blearily wandered in at around the same time. They sat beside Nat, each quietly nursing his own cup of coffee. Pepper followed shortly after in sweatpants and a tee-shirt.

She’d finally decided to tone down her involvement with SI in her last month of pregnancy, which actually meant that she’d handed Tony back all of the responsibility of running the company. And had agreed to some of Tony and Rhodey’s “mother-henning”. She didn’t go everywhere with an escort like they wanted her to. But she always told someone where she was headed in the Tower. She also either always wore shoes or, more often, non-skid socks with grips on the bottom because they were terrified she’d slip while walking through the Tower. She placed a hand on the table and one on her belly, took a deep breath, and slowly released it as she sat down. As soon as her butt hit the seat, Sam put her plate in front of her. She smiled up at him in thanks. Harley followed right behind him with a glass of orange juice and her tea.

The day passed normally as well. Rhodey went to work. Harley and Peter spent most of the day in the lab, only breaking to go out for lunch with Aunt May. Tony spent a large part of the day in meetings for SI, Natasha accompanying him. She was the only other one with experience being his assistant, even though it had been a cover at the time. She’d agreed to it because it was only temporary and Pepper had given her personal assistant paid time off while she was on maternity leave. Pepper’s assistant wouldn’t be able to corral Tony into doing what he needed to do, and they all knew that Nat could. Bruce went to the lab to work on whatever research it was he was currently working on with Stephen Strange. Steve, Sam, and Bucky hung around the Tower. Pepper knew they were hanging around in case she needed help.

It wouldn’t have been so obvious if they weren’t hovering. And they were hovering pretty intensely. She was positive that her glass of ice water hadn’t fallen below half-full all morning. And the ice never seemed to melt much either, oddly enough. They brought her lunch to the couch where she was spending the day watching movies. At least one of them always seemed to be in the room and, if she suggested she might need something, he would get it for her.

Finally, she asked Sam to call the other two into the room. “You’re all terrible about being subtle. I do not, in fact, need constant supervision. I’m pregnant, not a time bomb.” They all had the decency to look embarrassed at being caught. “Go somewhere else. If I need help, I’ll have FRIDAY call for you, okay?”

“Do you need anything before we go then?”

“No thank you, Sam. I’m comfortable right now.”

They did as she asked and left her alone in the common area. That was another concession she’d made to her partners. When they weren’t with her, she stayed in the common areas of the Tower in case she needed help. She took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as another contraction hit. They were few and far between, so she hadn’t alerted anyone yet. Her OB-GYN had told her that early labor like this could last 12 hours and she didn’t want to spend all that time being hovered over like a watched pot.

Her water broke about an hour after she made Sam, Steve, and Bucky leave her alone. It wasn’t the gush of fluid like they showed in the movies and at first, she hadn’t been sure that was what happened. It was just a slow trickle of fluid, but she knew she hadn’t peed on herself and that was the only other option. She phoned her OB-GYN’s office as they’d instructed her to do. Since she wasn’t in active labor yet – her contractions were still irregular and at least 30 minutes apart – they told her not to worry, there was still plenty of time. But to call when they started to get less than 10 minutes apart and the doctor would get to the Tower’s medbay then. Until then, they advised her to stay comfortable and try to relax. If she could, they advised taking a nap.

She curled up on her side, cushioning herself with the pillows she’d brought with her, and flipping through Netflix. She wasn’t remotely tired, but there was no reason not to be comfortable while she watched tv. After a while, she got up to walk around. She was used to having things to _do_. Being at home with no work was driving her crazy. She grabbed her tablet from it’s charging port in the penthouse and made her way back to the large kitchen.

“FRIDAY, are Harley and Peter back from lunch yet?”

“Yes. Would you like me to send them to you?”

“Yes, thank you.” In moments, she could hear the boys running through the halls toward her. She smiled and turned to face the door. “I want cookies and you two are going to help me make them.”

“What kind?” Peter asked.

“We’ll start with chocolate chip and go from there.” With all of the high metabolisms throughout the Avengers, they decided they were going to need a lot of cookies. They made a triple batch of Toll House chocolate chip cookies. Then they made a double batch of both snickerdoodles and gingerbread cookies. Sam, Bucky, and Steve had tried to sneak cookies while they were being made but had only managed one each before Pepper glared and they backed out. Pepper’s contractions were still more than 20 minutes apart and she had managed to distract her two children whenever one happened if they were looking at her. Thankfully, they were still mild and only lasted about 30 seconds.

As the last trays of gingerbread cookies were slid into the oven, Pepper asked FRIDAY to tell everyone that they were allowed back in the kitchen. Sam, Bucky, Steve, Tony, Nat, and Bruce quickly joined her and the kids.

“I had FRIDAY order everyone’s usual from Panera. Should be here…”

“Miss Romanoff, your Panera order has arrived. Shall I have the delivery driver bring it up?” FRIDAY interrupted.

“Now, apparently,” Nat finished. “Yes, FRIDAY.” She went to wait at the elevator with Bruce and they brought the bags of food back into the kitchen.

Pepper ate less than half of her salad before yawning and announcing that she was going up to bed. Being about 7 in the evening, it was early for bed but no one pointed that out to her. She grabbed one of each cookie, munching on them on her way up. She figured it was probably time to nap, as labor would probably start in earnest soon.

She was right. She woke up two hours later with intense pain in her low back. She breathed through it and reached for her phone. Quickly, she told her doctor that her pain had gotten more intense and had been enough to wake her from a nap. Her doctor told her to head to the medbay, and she and her nurse would be there soon.

She sat on the side of their bed and reached for her socks. “FRIDAY, I need Tony and Rhodey. Now.”

In less than two minutes, she heard four pairs of feet running from the elevator. Tony, Rhodey, Harley, and Peter all skidded to a stop in the doorway. “Pep? Everything okay?”

“Yes, just fine. My contractions are…. AH!” She pressed a hand to her low back, breathing slowly to try to control the pain. “Are about 6 or 7 minutes apart now. Time to go.” Tony promptly fainted, causing his entire family to stare down at him for a few seconds.

“I thought there was early labor first?” Rhodey hurried to help her pull on her socks, stepping around Tony. They’d decided to forgo the usual hospital bag since they would technically still be at home for the labor and delivery.

“There was. I’ve been in labor pretty much all day. Started a little while after breakfast.”

“All day? Mom, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Relax, Peter. I didn’t want to be hovered over any more than I already was. It was a very relaxing day, actually. James, love, get a glass of water and splash it on Tony’s face. See if he wakes up.”

“Did you call the doctor?”

“Yes. She and her nurse are on the way up.” Thankfully the hospital wasn’t far from the Tower and they’d likely be there in 20 minutes. Pepper whipped her head to the side as she heard a loud thud followed by a slightly quieter one. Rhodey laid on the floor, hands over his face. “Did you just run into the door frame?”

“Ow,” he took his hands away and they could see the blood gushing out of his nose.

“They’re hopeless,” Pepper turned to look at her kids.

“We’re good, Mom. Harley, help Mom up.” Peter ran into the kitchen and came back with a wet rag for Rhodey. “Pops, can you stand up?” He needed a little support but managed to get up and walked on his own toward Pepper just as another contraction hit and she squeezed Harley’s hand as hard as she could. “Right. Pops, get the elevator. I’ve got Dad.” Peter scooped Tony up and carried him bridal style to the elevator, doing his best to control his own breathing.

“Relax, Pete. We can do this. All we have to do is get Mom to medbay. That’s the most important thing right now,” Harley had an arm out for Pepper to hold onto if she needed the support as they walked into the elevator. “Just focus on that task, and we’ll be fine. Just ‘cause Dad fainted and Pops probably broke his nose doesn’t mean we don’t know what we’re doing. I mean, we don’t ‘cause we never went to the birthing classes with them. But we know how to get to medbay. We’ve been there loads of times. What if the doctor doesn’t get there in time? What if you go into labor while we’re walking there?”

“Harley, relax. We’re already down to the right floor. If my doctor doesn’t make it in time, call Strange. He can be here instantly.”

“Right, Strange is an actual medical doctor. What about Bruce?”

“FRIDAY, call Bruce to Medbay.”

“Already done.”

They arrived to see Bruce pacing the room they’d decided would be the labor and delivery room. “Pepper, I don’t know…. What happened to them?”

“That’s why you’re here. Tony fainted, Rhodey may have broken his nose. My OB is on her way.”

“Good, good. I can handle broken noses and fainting. Give me one minute, Peter. Harley help your mom sit down if she wants to.” Pepper chose to remain standing, pacing around a little with Harley at her side. She stilled and grabbed his arm as another contraction hit.

“Pepper!” Tony came to in Peter’s arms, flailing a lot and fell right out of his arms and to the floor. Luckily, or maybe not, he hit the floor on his side rather than on his face so he didn’t break his nose but he also didn't have a chance to catch himself. “Fuck! Ow! How’d we get here?”

“I carried you, Harley helped Mom, Pops broke his nose.”

“Platypus broke his nose? You okay, Platypus?” He asked as he stood and walked over to Pepper, trading places with Harley.

“Bleeding a lot, but I’m good.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Bruce came back, wheeling another bed into the room. He put it up against one of the walls, leaving plenty of space still for Pepper. “Come on, Rhodey, hop up. How long have you been awake, Tony?”

“About a minute. He fell out of Pete’s arms when he woke up.”

“Hit the ground?”

“Yeah, on his side,” Harley answered, coming to stand beside Bruce.

“Mom, need anything? Any water or anything?”

“Ice water would be amazing right now. Will you run up and grab my big blue water bottle? It’s in the big kitchen. Oh! And some of the snickerdoodles if there’s any left.”

Peter did as requested, running up the walls of the stairwell instead of taking the elevator. He wasn’t sure it was faster, but it felt faster to him. “Mom’s in labor!” He announced to everyone who had been there all day and were now gathered in the common area watching _The Hunger Games_ as he ran through the room.

Immediately they all followed him. “What?”

“For how long?”

“Apparently all day almost. But her contractions just started getting bad. Also, Dad fainted when she told him and Pops ran into a door frame and probably broke his nose. Where're the snickerdoodles?” Steve opened one of the cupboards and pulled out the glass container of snickerdoodles. “Awesome, thanks.” He loaded up a plate, filled her water bottle with ice water and headed toward the elevator. He wouldn’t be able to run on the walls with everything he was carrying. “We’re in the medbay and the doctor should be here soon. Bruce is checking on Dad and Pops.” Everyone filed in with him. “Okay then. Тетушка, will you call Aunt May and update her for me please?”

“Absolutely.”

“We’ll tell the rest of the team,” Steve said.

“Thanks!” Peter took off as soon as the doors opened. “Hey Mom. Steve, Sam, Bucky, and тетушка are out in the lobby. They’re gonna let everybody else know too.”

“Thank you, dear. Set those on the table please.”

Rhodey’s nose was indeed broken and required a manual adjustment to get everything back in place. Tony did not have a concussion from falling either time and was given a clean bill of health. Other than that, it was a waiting game. Pepper had changed into a gown but was still content to move around. At one point, she’d decided to go out into the lobby where the whole Avengers team, plus family, was gathered thanks to Dr. Strange’s portals. She happily stayed chatting with them until her contractions were about two minutes apart. At which time, she turned as quickly as she was able to head back into the delivery room, gripping Tony and Rhodey’s arms as tightly as possible.

“Time to push,” she announced once they were all back in the room. She laid down on the delivery bed as the doctor instructed. Harley and Peter stood over her shoulders, supplying her with water or rubbing her shoulders as she requested. Tony and Rhodey were on either side of her, holding her hands and talking her through each contraction.

A little less than three hours later, Morgan Stark-Rhodes was laid on her mother’s belly. Her fathers and older brothers curled around her and her mother as best as they were able and if all of them were crying, who could really blame them?

**Author's Note:**

> I started out working on another of the connected oneshots for this, because the other one happens right after the end of 'They Ain't Worth Missing'. But apparently my brain needed this one written right now. It wasn't until the very end that I decided that as a family, their names would be hyphenated. All of them are, Pepper's, Tony's, Rhodey's, Harley's, and now Morgan's.  
> Also, I have never had a child. Pepper's labor is based on my best friend's labor who had a ridiculously easy pregnancy and labor.


End file.
